Chapter 989 The Iron Workshops (Part-5)
Alexander went to observe the lost wax casting method at the decorative section of the iron workshop, where things like statues and other showpieces were being created.
In this casting method, first, a wax model of the product was created.
Then it was coated with clay or in the case of Alexander, plaster of Paris, which was just powdered gypsum mixed with water, with only a few small holes at the sides and top.
Once the coating set, the entire was heated in an oven to melt the wax and let it drain out of those holes.
Then molten iron could be poured from the nearby furnace using a crucible into that small hole, thus creating a precise replica of the original wax model.
After that, all that remained was to wait for the metal to cool and solidify within it.
Once that was done, the ceramic shell was broken away to reveal the metal casting inside.
The product was then grinded, sanded, polished, and colored to give the appropriate finish.
This method had several advantages to the traditional method of just sand casting, the biggest one being its ability to produce complex shapes and intricate details, with excellent dimensional accuracy and surface finish.
As revealed by a gushing Marvin, the statues and decorations they produced here were so detailed and intricate that it was 'as if made by the gods themselves.'
And due to this, the pieces went for anywhere from thrice to and sometimes even ten times their other competitors, if the patron was wealthy enough and the piece beautiful enough.
Of course, not everything was sunshine and roses with this technique.
It had its downsides too.
The profits from that 3 to 10 times the selling price were in a large way offset by how time-consuming and labor-intensive the process was, especially for intricate or large-scale castings.
It took a lot of skill and a lot of time to make that wax mold, so the artisans charged a premium.
And after all that work, the entire thing was melted within minutes, ruining it.
Even the ceramic shell produced from its coating was destroyed in the process of extracting the finished piece.
Thus to produce another copy, the entire process had to be started all over again.
Meaning the rate of production was very low.
Nonetheless, it was a very popular method for producing high-quality metal parts with precise specifications due to its efficacy.
And Alexander had even also given Marvin some tips on how to save on waste and speed the operations up by some margin.
One of which was coating the wax mold not fully with clay or cement, but in parts.
So first the front half was coated, and once that part dried and could be extracted, the rear half was done.
That way you got two halves of a full mold that would be separated from each other.
During casting these two plaster of Paris were held together firmly using a vice or even a thin layer of wet clay.
And once the metal was poured and cooled, the two halves could be once again separated, ready to be reused.
Of course, the molds degraded over time as the liquid iron slowly ate through it, the rate being faster for more intricate and finer details.
But it was still multiple times faster than the once per use molds.
And judging by how these beautiful decorations were selling like hotcakes, it was like this section of the workshop was not selling iron statues but gold ones.
Moving on from there, Alexander then observed the creation of knives used in cooking, where the blacksmiths used another technique Alexander had imparted to them- case hardening.
It was a process used to improve the surface hardness of iron or steel objects while retaining a tough and ductile core.
To do this, the surface of the metal would be sprinkled with scant dust of coal and then heated, which would add durability and wear resistance to the tool.
As a side note- it was said that case hardening was first found in the Arab world by an assassin.
As the tales go, the assassin in question had, for whatever reason, one day decided to heat his knife before committing the deed, and suddenly found his knife to be much harder than before, able to pierce armor that had previously proved impervious.
He revealed this to his blacksmith, who then slowly propagated it to his peers, who then slowly spread the idea.
Following this novel method of casting, Alexander then moved on to observe how a prototype helmet he had designed for those working in the mines was coming along since he had received news of the deaths of some slaves working there from falling rocks and debris.
He thought the loss of such good labor was a shame.
Thus came the idea of creating some simple hard hats.
Towards Alexander's want, Marvin was quick to respond, urging him to follow, "Come my lord, this way! This way!"
The way the man said it made it apparent that he was quite excited to show him the piece.
And the reason became apparent when Alexander laid eyes on the prototype.
For other than the basic shape, it was nothing like the one he had shown them in the diagram.
It was much more embellished- with many magnificent patterns and details etched into it, as it seemed that Marvin had mistaken the helmet to be used by Alexander.
And here too Marvin then went to sing high praises for the various Alexander techniques had stated to them- such as forge welding- which was a method of joining two pieces of metal by heating them to a high temperature and hammering them together with a flux like limestone to act as a binder.
This enabled blacksmiths to create complex assemblies and structures as hinges, and armor components, the examples of which Marvin was more than happy to show to Alexander.
"My lord, we were never able to shape iron like this! Previously, whenever we tried to join separate pieces with each other, they would either snap or crack! But now… we can make them a mile long no problem!" The man like usual exaggerated a bit.
But in his mind, he also felt the truth was not too far off. The technique of adding limestone to make the joint more durable was indeed seen as revolutionary by his colleagues.
Many had even privately claimed that coming to Zanzan was the best decision in their lives.
And that the techniques being practiced here were a few centuries if not a whole millennia ahead of their time.
They could not wait to tell their friends and peers back at Galiosis about this.
For now, though, they had one last technique to show Alexander, this time a decorative one.
The method was called 'repoussé and chasing' which was used to create decorative relief patterns on metal surfaces.
In repoussé, the metal was hammered from the reverse side to create raised designs, while chasing involves refining and detailing the relief from the front side, letting blacksmiths embellish metallic objects with intricate designs and motifs.
The embellished armor that Alexander wore during the Triumph was also created using this technique.
Holding the helmet in hand, Alexander first applauded the blacksmiths over their quick mastery of the metalworking, saying, "Great! I am very pleased by the scale and quality of the products here. You have done well."
Then ignoring Marvin's grinning face, added, "That's why I want you to open a new section in the workshop and make ten thousand of these hard tops. Without all the decorations of course. They will only be used by slaves."
"10,000!" Marvin's mind reacted much more fiercely to the stated number than the inquiry of why slaves would need helmets.
As he then lowered his head and went to reveal with a bit of difficulty in his voice. "Bu …but my… my lord, we do not have enough men. Or even adequate blacksmiths for that matter. We are already stretched too thin even at this moment."
It seemed Marvin was very reluctant to admit that he had a problem following this command.
But the man really could not deliver so many helmets within any reasonable time frame given his current resources.
Not also while meeting his other quotas.
Thus the blacksmiths bit the bullet and instead of failing to deliver, sought for additional resources up front.
And Alexander agreed immediately, comforting the slightly panicked man by flashing his palms and casually stating, "You will get them. How does 1,000 workers and 50 blacksmiths sound? Will that be enough?"
This pool of workers was coming from the fact the province of Zanzan had just added close to 100,000 new people as 10,000 captured prisoners of war and their whole families were forcibly relocated to the city's suburbs.
And along with them, in search of better opportunities, there were another 30,000 to 50,000 men who had come to the city, most migrating from the poorer parts of Tibias like the suburbs of Thesalie and even remote parts of Zanzan.
And there were many workers, blacksmiths, and other artisans there.
Thus Alexander at this moment was temporarily swimming in workers and 1,000 was but an insignificant reallocation.
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